Leverage Episode Reviews
Aug. 12th, 2012 12:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weaselettThree episode reviews for the Challenge 12 'Having an Episode' at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
leverageland.
The Scheherazade Job (3x04)
'Let's go steal the man on the street....in Africa'
The Scheherazade Job opens with Moto making a pitch, while his potential investors are served slices of the cake shaped like his country that he's brought with him. We learn, though this little scene, that this week's bad guy is the back stabbing brother of his country's popular president.
We then cut to a woman being tricked into almost getting run down, she is, as we find out post credits, the client of the week.
The boys meet the client, Jane, who is a journalist, and start in on the attack pretty much immediately. It’s Hardison’s turn to pair up with Sophie for the con, playing the part of prodigy musician to grab Moto’s attention.
The con plays through, with a few amendments, and the team come out on top.
This episode includes a lot of continuity with The Italian showing up, and back references to Nate’s time in prison. The client, Jane, is presented as a strong woman, with a lot of compassion, who cares a great deal for a country, and we get a few nice moments between her and Eliot.
Moto seems to be a little easily lead (taking Hardison and Sophie down to his vault without very much persuasion) and his staff need a bit more training, but he works as a Mark of the Week.
The team all have their parts to play in the plan,Sophie playing Australian, Eliot beating people up, Parker casing the place, Hardison being manipulated and Nate playing puppet master.
There are nice back story hints/mentions, and we get to learn something new about Hardison.
Favourite moments:
Eliot's fight with the guys following the client (from the set up to the drink near the end)
Nate's version of how a meal with The Italian could turn out
Eliot watching/helping Hardison set up the bad press on Moto
The Moto brothers having a Skype fight
Hardison reaction to the violin
Back reference to Jailbreak Job, with what Nate learned in jail
Parker's pep talk for Hardison
Working the theft to fit in with the orchestra
Quotes:
Eliot: I thought take your daughter to work day was last week.
Hardison: It turns out you can't see naked pictures of girls on a violin
Sophie: Alone again, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you liked it like that
Stars:
Good pacing, some great character moments, and an interesting plot
★ ★ ★ ★
-
The Studio Job (3x06)
There’s no ‘Let’s go steal a...’ line in this ep, unless I managed to miss it. So this review sadly lacks a proper subheading.
The Studio Job opens with the clients being attacked by the mark. The whole sequence makes me wince, every time.
The client, Kaylin, is a singer songwriter, who has become the victim of an evil record producer, who was one hit wonder back in the day. Nate and Sophie decide to run a fiddle game.
The team heads to Nashville, with Eliot, Nate and Sophie playing the main roles in the con. First, they sell Eliot to the mark, then steal back the master copies of client’s songs, only to discover the truth about the mark’s original hit. The team almost loses, but comes out on top in the end.
This episode is just full of pop culture references, but they are done so well it’s not jarring or out of place. We get a lot of character moments, and get to learn a little more about Eliot.
The confession in the room full of microphones is a great play, and it’s good to see the team having to pull together to win out at the last minute, rather than have everything work out perfectly.
The client offers as good as she gets, and gets her flirt on with Mr Spencer, but it doesn’t defer from the main story. The Mark of the Week is suitably evil, and knows his art well, just isn’t expecting to be coming up against Eliot and Hardison’s earbuds.
Favourite Moments:
Eliot and the client - the flirting
Parker and the Fiddle
Parker's pick pocketing dance
Eliot singing
Eliot and the fangirls
Bjork!Parker
Princess Bride and A Team references
Quotes:
Kaylin: The devil may have gone down to Georgia My Ford, but he lives in Memphis
Hardison: Well contary to what you all may believe, I do not control everything that happens on the internet.
Eliot: There's a price on my head in three different countries, and I am fairly certain a FATWA was issued.
Hardison: You are so lame man. Bom there, fansite nuc’ked, but you know what, when you get back we are going to have a serious conversation about the difference between caution and paranoia
Eliot: When you've done the things I've done, there's no such thing as paranoia
Parker: I don't think I'm being weird enough
Hardison: No...
Eliot: Listen to me man, say pitchy one more time, say pitchy one more time and see what happens. I don't even think that word means what you think it means.
Hardison: It means pitchy.
Eliot: Define it.
Hardison: You define it.
Eliot: I don't have to define it, I'm not saying it every five seconds.
Stars:
Well paced, lovely character moments, especially for Eliot, an amazing guest cast and good plot
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
-
The Big Bang Job (3x15)
‘Let’s go steal the Department of Defense’
The Big Bang Job opens, not with a client v mark moment, but with a dramatic meeting between Nate and The Italian.
It then moves on to a woman (Yasmine) in a lab coat, on the phone with a not very nice PA. Balaclava’d folks break in, and grab her as she tries to hide. Once outside, she starts threatening them, only for her lab to blow up. The Balaclava’d folks are revealed to be Parker, Eliot and Hardison.
Yasmine turns out to be working for a general who is in Moreau (big bad mark of the season)’s pocket and it’s Moreau who wants her dead. Yasmine doesn’t understand, as her top secret project is a battery.
The team discusses how to approach the problem, Moreau is holding an auction and it is connected Yasmin’s work. The team spilts, Nate, Parker and Sophie taking the general, Hardison and Eliot taking Moreau. They get the plans from the general and Eliot strikes a deal with Moreau.
The team comes up with a plan that allows Eliot to seem to have carried through with Moreau’s request, and they get the details of the auction. Moreau sets them up, they get to the lab too late to steal the bomb. Eliot and Nate find The Italian and a fight ensues while Hardison and Parker locate and destroy the bomb.
Nate uses The Italian to frame Moreau, Moreau runs and the team follows.
The episode is chock full of back references to earlier episodes, and with recurring guests. This is an episode that shows how much the characters have grown and changed since we first met them. The relationships have developed, and they trust each other a great deal. Eliot’s choice to take Hardison, and trust that Hardison won’t ruin his play, is the most significant part of the episode, as so much hinges on that meeting going right.
It’s an amazing episode, that wraps a lot of the threads, and leads well into the finale.
The only real downer, for me, was the weird slow motion bullets (but I am not a fan of heavy green screen, and effects like that).
Favourite Moments:
Parker - everything blows up
Eliot and Hardison - the whole of it, from the ‘I’m Eliot Spencer’ all the way through the confrontation - espeically Hardison getting out of the pool and wiping his face and not once dropping his cover
Quotes:
Parker: Isn’t that treason?
Nate: We’ll give it back.
Moreau: Whose snoopy lunchbox do I have?
Eliot: Yeah Hardison, I knew you were going to suck air out of a chair.
Eliot: You think you know what I’ve done. The worst thing I’ve done in my entire life, I did for Damien Moreau. And I’ll....I’ll never be clean of that.
Eliot: Don’t ask me that Parker, because if you ask me, I’m going to tell you, so please, don’t ask me.
Stars:
Fast pace, a lot happens in less than an hour of TV, some amazing character moments and a solid plot.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
-
leverageland.The Scheherazade Job (3x04)
'Let's go steal the man on the street....in Africa'
The Scheherazade Job opens with Moto making a pitch, while his potential investors are served slices of the cake shaped like his country that he's brought with him. We learn, though this little scene, that this week's bad guy is the back stabbing brother of his country's popular president.
We then cut to a woman being tricked into almost getting run down, she is, as we find out post credits, the client of the week.
The boys meet the client, Jane, who is a journalist, and start in on the attack pretty much immediately. It’s Hardison’s turn to pair up with Sophie for the con, playing the part of prodigy musician to grab Moto’s attention.
The con plays through, with a few amendments, and the team come out on top.
This episode includes a lot of continuity with The Italian showing up, and back references to Nate’s time in prison. The client, Jane, is presented as a strong woman, with a lot of compassion, who cares a great deal for a country, and we get a few nice moments between her and Eliot.
Moto seems to be a little easily lead (taking Hardison and Sophie down to his vault without very much persuasion) and his staff need a bit more training, but he works as a Mark of the Week.
The team all have their parts to play in the plan,Sophie playing Australian, Eliot beating people up, Parker casing the place, Hardison being manipulated and Nate playing puppet master.
There are nice back story hints/mentions, and we get to learn something new about Hardison.
Favourite moments:
Eliot's fight with the guys following the client (from the set up to the drink near the end)
Nate's version of how a meal with The Italian could turn out
Eliot watching/helping Hardison set up the bad press on Moto
The Moto brothers having a Skype fight
Hardison reaction to the violin
Back reference to Jailbreak Job, with what Nate learned in jail
Parker's pep talk for Hardison
Working the theft to fit in with the orchestra
Quotes:
Eliot: I thought take your daughter to work day was last week.
Hardison: It turns out you can't see naked pictures of girls on a violin
Sophie: Alone again, if I didn't know you better, I'd think you liked it like that
Stars:
Good pacing, some great character moments, and an interesting plot
★ ★ ★ ★
-
The Studio Job (3x06)
There’s no ‘Let’s go steal a...’ line in this ep, unless I managed to miss it. So this review sadly lacks a proper subheading.
The Studio Job opens with the clients being attacked by the mark. The whole sequence makes me wince, every time.
The client, Kaylin, is a singer songwriter, who has become the victim of an evil record producer, who was one hit wonder back in the day. Nate and Sophie decide to run a fiddle game.
The team heads to Nashville, with Eliot, Nate and Sophie playing the main roles in the con. First, they sell Eliot to the mark, then steal back the master copies of client’s songs, only to discover the truth about the mark’s original hit. The team almost loses, but comes out on top in the end.
This episode is just full of pop culture references, but they are done so well it’s not jarring or out of place. We get a lot of character moments, and get to learn a little more about Eliot.
The confession in the room full of microphones is a great play, and it’s good to see the team having to pull together to win out at the last minute, rather than have everything work out perfectly.
The client offers as good as she gets, and gets her flirt on with Mr Spencer, but it doesn’t defer from the main story. The Mark of the Week is suitably evil, and knows his art well, just isn’t expecting to be coming up against Eliot and Hardison’s earbuds.
Favourite Moments:
Eliot and the client - the flirting
Parker and the Fiddle
Parker's pick pocketing dance
Eliot singing
Eliot and the fangirls
Bjork!Parker
Princess Bride and A Team references
Quotes:
Kaylin: The devil may have gone down to Georgia My Ford, but he lives in Memphis
Hardison: Well contary to what you all may believe, I do not control everything that happens on the internet.
Eliot: There's a price on my head in three different countries, and I am fairly certain a FATWA was issued.
Hardison: You are so lame man. Bom there, fansite nuc’ked, but you know what, when you get back we are going to have a serious conversation about the difference between caution and paranoia
Eliot: When you've done the things I've done, there's no such thing as paranoia
Parker: I don't think I'm being weird enough
Hardison: No...
Eliot: Listen to me man, say pitchy one more time, say pitchy one more time and see what happens. I don't even think that word means what you think it means.
Hardison: It means pitchy.
Eliot: Define it.
Hardison: You define it.
Eliot: I don't have to define it, I'm not saying it every five seconds.
Stars:
Well paced, lovely character moments, especially for Eliot, an amazing guest cast and good plot
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
-
The Big Bang Job (3x15)
‘Let’s go steal the Department of Defense’
The Big Bang Job opens, not with a client v mark moment, but with a dramatic meeting between Nate and The Italian.
It then moves on to a woman (Yasmine) in a lab coat, on the phone with a not very nice PA. Balaclava’d folks break in, and grab her as she tries to hide. Once outside, she starts threatening them, only for her lab to blow up. The Balaclava’d folks are revealed to be Parker, Eliot and Hardison.
Yasmine turns out to be working for a general who is in Moreau (big bad mark of the season)’s pocket and it’s Moreau who wants her dead. Yasmine doesn’t understand, as her top secret project is a battery.
The team discusses how to approach the problem, Moreau is holding an auction and it is connected Yasmin’s work. The team spilts, Nate, Parker and Sophie taking the general, Hardison and Eliot taking Moreau. They get the plans from the general and Eliot strikes a deal with Moreau.
The team comes up with a plan that allows Eliot to seem to have carried through with Moreau’s request, and they get the details of the auction. Moreau sets them up, they get to the lab too late to steal the bomb. Eliot and Nate find The Italian and a fight ensues while Hardison and Parker locate and destroy the bomb.
Nate uses The Italian to frame Moreau, Moreau runs and the team follows.
The episode is chock full of back references to earlier episodes, and with recurring guests. This is an episode that shows how much the characters have grown and changed since we first met them. The relationships have developed, and they trust each other a great deal. Eliot’s choice to take Hardison, and trust that Hardison won’t ruin his play, is the most significant part of the episode, as so much hinges on that meeting going right.
It’s an amazing episode, that wraps a lot of the threads, and leads well into the finale.
The only real downer, for me, was the weird slow motion bullets (but I am not a fan of heavy green screen, and effects like that).
Favourite Moments:
Parker - everything blows up
Eliot and Hardison - the whole of it, from the ‘I’m Eliot Spencer’ all the way through the confrontation - espeically Hardison getting out of the pool and wiping his face and not once dropping his cover
Quotes:
Parker: Isn’t that treason?
Nate: We’ll give it back.
Moreau: Whose snoopy lunchbox do I have?
Eliot: Yeah Hardison, I knew you were going to suck air out of a chair.
Eliot: You think you know what I’ve done. The worst thing I’ve done in my entire life, I did for Damien Moreau. And I’ll....I’ll never be clean of that.
Eliot: Don’t ask me that Parker, because if you ask me, I’m going to tell you, so please, don’t ask me.
Stars:
Fast pace, a lot happens in less than an hour of TV, some amazing character moments and a solid plot.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
-
